Raphael Golb Re-sentenced
Raphael Golb, a literature scholar and now-disbarred lawyer, was re-sentenced on misdemeanor criminal impersonation and forgery charges that the Court of Appeals upheld, even as it nixed his felony identity-theft conviction and declared an aggravated harassment law unconstitutional.
Golb had been sentenced in 2010 to six months in jail but was free on bail during his appeal. He remains free at least until July 22, as a judge postponed his surrender date so he can ask courts to hold off his jail term while he appeals the case further.
Read the full report on ABC News and the history of the Raphael Golb plagiarism harassment on this blog.
Sectarianism in the Second Temple Period
Building Complex at Qumran
The major sects of the Second Temple period first appear in our sources in the aftermath of the Maccabean Revolt (168-164 B.C.E.). Yet in truth, the process of Hellenization began much earlier. The rise of the Maccabees (Hasmoneans) was occasioned by ferment in Jewish religious thought which led to a crisis regarding the extent and the manner in which the Jews were going to accommodate themselves to Hellenism. The Maccabees settled matters only partially, eliminating extreme Hellenization as a possibility. Yet their successful revolt left open a number of options regarding Hellenism, and also brought to the fore various other issues in Jewish religious thought and in the development of Jewish law. As a result, recognizable groups, known usually by the somewhat inaccurate term “sects,” came to the fore. We will discuss here the major groups, yet it should be borne in mind that numerous smaller and even undocumented sects existed in this period. Further, most of the Jewish population in Palestine was only tangentially connected to the issues these sects debated.
Best known among these groups are the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The Pharisees represented a group of lay teachers… Continue reading
The Samaritan Schism
There is considerable scholarly controversy regarding the date of the Samaritan schism. Although some seek to identify the origins of the Samaritans in the Hellenistic period, their beginnings should be traced back to the 6th century B.C.E. When the Assyrians destroyed the Northern Kingdom of Israel in 722 they exiled the upper crust of society, in order to deprive the country of its leadership. At the same time, as they did elsewhere, they brought in foreign elements in in order to create a mixed population unli kely to unify and revolt. These new elements eventually mixed with the native population and together they evolved a syncretistic form of Israelite worship.
When the Judeans returned to rebuild the Temple in about 520 B.C.E., the Samaritans, identifying with the Judeans, offered to help in the endeavor. The Judeans rejected the Samaritans, because of their questionable Jewish descent and their syncretistic cult. As a result, long centuries of hostility began. The Samaritans constantly attempted to block the rebuilding of Jerusalem by appealing to Persian authorities.
Following their rejection by the Judeans, the Samaritans set up their… Continue reading
